Postdoctoral Research Associate – Neurology Full-time NEW

Postdoctoral Fellow Opportunity

The Orr Lab at WashU Medicine is seeking a highly motivated and innovative postdoctoral fellow to join our interdisciplinary research team. This position offers the opportunity to lead impactful research at the interface of aging biology, neurodegeneration, and spatial omics. The successful candidate will contribute to high-profile projects investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, using advanced spatial biology platforms and translational approaches.

Join a nationally recognized and well-funded lab at the forefront of Alzheimer's disease and aging research and:

• Contribute to the first-ever Bruker Spatial Biology Center of Excellence, with the opportunity to shape scientific strategy and methods development.
• Access world-class imaging, omics, and computing infrastructure at WashU.
• Work in a collegial, mentorship-driven lab environment with strong institutional support for career development.
• Enjoy a competitive NIH-scale salary and a full benefits package including health insurance, retirement contributions, and professional development resources.

Primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Design and conduct independent research projects focused on brain aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease.
• Apply and optimize advanced spatial biology techniques, such as spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and multiplexed imaging, to analyze brain tissue.
• Lead data analysis and interpretation, integrating multi-omic and imaging datasets to identify cellular and molecular changes associated with aging and disease.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including bioinformaticians, neurologists, neuropathologists, and clinical researchers, to translate findings across model systems and human cohorts.
• Mentor junior lab members, including graduate students and research staff, and contribute to fostering a supportive and rigorous scientific environment.
• Present research findings at lab meetings, institutional seminars, and national/international conferences.
• Contribute to manuscript preparation and grant writing, including drafting scientific figures and writing sections of proposals or papers.
• Maintain detailed records of experimental protocols, results, and analyses in accordance with lab, institutional, and funding agency standards.
• Develop and maintain protocols for tissue preparation and multiplexed imaging workflows.
• Assist in developing novel analytical pipelines or work with computational scientists to interpret complex spatial and single-cell datasets.
• Participate in grant-funded research and help identify new funding opportunities aligned with lab objectives.
• Contribute to the development of new collaborations and technology integration for the Spatial Biology Center of Excellence.
• Ensure compliance with relevant protocols (e.g., IACUC, IRB, biosafety) and uphold ethical research practices.

Working conditions include a laboratory environment with potential exposure to biological and chemical hazards. The individual must be physically able to wear protective equipment and to provide standard care to research animals.

Salary range is base pay commensurate with experience.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required qualifications include a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent terminal or doctoral degree.

Preferred qualifications include skills in biomedical sciences, biosafety, collaboration, data analysis, data interpretations, experimentation, histology, laboratory operations, laboratory techniques, molecular biology, neurodegeneration, proteomic analysis, Python (programming language), researching, results reporting, and scientific writing.